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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26333125">Day 249</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Josh_the_Bard/pseuds/Josh_the_Bard'>Josh_the_Bard</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>A Year in Kirkwall [249]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 02:32:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>582</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26333125</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Josh_the_Bard/pseuds/Josh_the_Bard</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>A Year in Kirkwall [249]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1589257</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Day 249</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Niklas had declined the invitation to the Hanged Man, he had been avoiding that place since Varric Tethras and his gang of mercenaries had killed Captain Qerth and the rest of Niklas’s companions. It was only by chance that Niklas had not been in the ‘Barracks’ that night and not been slaughtered with the rest. Fortunately Paherial had agreed to meet by the docks, one of the places where Varric was seen less often.</p><p>Paherial was a dark skinned elf, dressed in an exotic fashion, probably from somewhere to the North. He was accompanied with a younger elf that could have been his younger brother, or son. Niklas was terrible at guessing the age of elves.</p><p>“I’m putting together a team,” Paherial said, sliding a mug of ale across the table. “It’s a job that is not sanctioned by the Coterie, Varric Tethris is the target. You’re either in or out right now.”</p><p>“In,” Niklas said without hesitation. He had tried to take up an honest trade in recent years but he was still early in his apprenticeship and the pay  was not enough to make ends meet. Niklas had borrowed money from the Coterie to make ends meet and doubted he would ever even manage to pay off the interest. Not to mention that a chance to hurt Varric Tethras’s bottom line was enticing.</p><p>“What do you need me to do?” Kickass asked.</p><p>“You were part of a group that dressed in imitation guard uniforms a few years back...”</p><p>***</p><p>After the meeting Niklas returned to the building he and his friends had jokingly called the barracks. The Champion had looted the most valuable pieces and now it was being used by the dwarven merchant’s guild as a warehouse. But there were secret passages that might have remained undisturbed, even after all these years.</p><p>The warehouse was not well guarded and Niklas easily snuck in, even with the wheelbarrow he had brought with him. As soon as he crossed the threshold, the memories from four years ago came flooding back. Here was where he, Pier, Floernt and Castor had relaxed and gambled away their takes during the days as they waited for the nights. Back then, the city guard was nowhere near as organized as it was now, and a group dressed in a uniform vaguely similar to that of the guard could move through the streets unquestioned. They could shakedown the nobles and they would assume it was simple corruption.</p><p>Castor had been his only friend to survive Varric and Hawke’s raid on their base, and their sweeps of the streets. Then Castor had been killed in the Qunari attack. Varric and the Champion had made the city dangerous for criminals, but hadn’t made it safer for honest folk. By criminals Niklas, of course, meant poor criminals, not those that profited by exploiting the corruption of the city. Criminals like Varric who benefited from his friendship with the Captain of the Guard and the Champion of Kirkwall.</p><p>Niklas reached the secret door in the back wall. It might have been his imagination, but Niklas though he could still see the bloodstains from where his fellows had died. Niklas pushed the thought from his mind and slid his key into the hidden lock. Inside, five uniforms remained, kept safe all these years. He piled the uniforms into the wheelbarrow and covered them with his cloak. Once again, no one questioned him as he walked back out and delivered the disguises to Paherial.</p>
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